Aston Villa predicted XI v Burnley: Unai Emery to wield axe on Diego Carlos
Aston Villa will be looking to build on their performances against Everton and Hibernian when they take on Burnley on Sunday (27 August) at Turf Moor.
The Villans thumped the Toffees 4-0 last weekend and did even better against Hibs by winning that game 5-0 in the UEFA Conference League qualifiers.
While it might be hard to pick a weakness in this playing eleven currently, Unai Emery is likely to make one change from the game against Hibs.
Centre-back Ezri Konsa played as a makeshift right-back in that game and he’s expected to make way for Matty Cash and move to centre-back.
The Poland international offers far more of an attacking threat and is the first-choice right-back when fit even though he was made to sit on the bench in mid-week.
Konsa may have had a decent game but it was nothing extraordinary and there will be no qualms if he makes way for Cash.
He lost 40 per cent of his duels in the game against Hibs, per Sofascore, and that will not be something Emery will worry about as he played out of position.
He’s more suited to a centre-back position and this means Diego Carlos will make way as he struggled in the air against Hibs.
He lost both his attempted aerial duels and wasn’t great on the ground as well losing two out of his attempted five.
He might have been credited with an assist but defensively there were plenty of aspects that his manager would not have liked.
Pau Torres, on the other hand, won both his aerial duels and Emery does like his centre-backs being good in the air.
Given the fact that Konsa started the win against Everton and appeared to have a good partnership with Torres, they’re likely to be the centre-back pairing for this one.
Apart from that, the rest of the team picks itself and all eyes will be on Ollie Watkins who scored a hat-trick in mid-week and will be looking to fire on all cylinders.
In other Aston Villa news, a first-team ace has emerged as the “Master of the Dark Arts” for Unai Emery and has become the club’s most underrated player.